Newspapers may have promotional advertising labels which are removable from a front page or other pages of the newspaper. It is also possible that such labels are attached to pages of other publications such as a catalog or a magazine. These labels are used to advertise or promote various products or services or to sometimes identify that the publication is being provided as a courtesy copy from the establishment providing the copy. These labels are typically made from conventional clay coated label papers which are printed on a top side and treated on a bottom side with a pressure sensitive adhesive. The labels are delivered on either paper based or plastic based liners that are properly constructed and chosen for easy release during subsequent affixing to the pages of publication material.
The pressure sensitive adhesive used on these labels is designed so that it adheres to the liner and later to the publication substrate. The adhesive also allows the label to be removed or repositioned without tearing the fibers or removing ink to the point of impairing legibility or affecting underlying copy. This is an important feature since newsprint paper is not coated. Newsprint paper has exposed fibers on its surface and its internal bond strength is much weaker than in magazines in comparison. Adhesives used for repositioning is achieved by formulations whereby impurities are added to either water based or solvent based adhesives to deaden or weaken the adhesive nature of the materials. Additionally, pattern coating is used to apply these adhesives to create areas of bonding and areas of no bonding. These combinations are used to perfect the adhesion and repositionability desired on a given substrate.
These promotional labels are typically affixed either during the newspaper printing or during the overhead, folded newspaper transport between printing and final packing or bundling operations. The labels on the liners are presented fan-folded or on rolls for continuous splicing and affixing to the publication in the existing work flow.
There are also multiple ply or multi-ply constructed labels defining a well or containment area. The containment area is filled with a sample material such as a fragrance or a cosmetic sample. These labels are constructed from combinations of paper, plastic, and aluminum foil composites with adhesives or heat seal coatings or treatments chosen for their ability to contain the various chemicals found in the sample materials. The sample material is trapped within the plies of the constructed label. These sample labels are typically affixed on 70 pound or 80 pound clay coated text weight paper stocks that are printed and then delivered with the affixed labels as an insert into magazines. Sample labels are also placed on printed cover stock weight printed papers for use as hand out cards in pharmacies and department stores to offer a real product sample to consumers. These samples have never been directed applied to newspapers. Given the liquid nature of the filled materials and in order to withstand burst pressures in handling, the seals of these labels must be strong. As a result of this, the adhesive used on the bottom of the filled sample label must be permanently attached to the carrier substrate. The seal strength of the label plies must be weaker than the adhesive of the label to the carrier substrate; otherwise the label would separate from the carrier before opening and would not allow access to the sample materials.
In an effort to offer fragrance or cosmetic samples in newspapers, such sample filled labels have been applied as samples on the top of traditional re-positionable labels in a “piggy-back style.” The sample label with conventional permanent adhesive is affixed on top of the base promotional label treated with re-positionable adhesives as above indicated. The combined labels are then applied in the traditional fashion to the front of newspapers where the labels can be removed and then the filled sample label can be opened away from the publication leaving the publication intact. Upon opening the filled sample label, the bottom ply of the sample label is still connected and attached to the top of the promotional carrier label.
This may be acceptable from an advertising and sampling perspective, but it is expensive and logistically very difficult to produce or manufacture. The process requires the separate printing and manufacturing of two labels, the sample label in addition to the promotional carrier label, and then the additional step of affixing the sample label to the carrier label. All of these steps require additional time and increase the cost of manufacturing the product. The complexity of the process is also increased in that it is difficult to color match and register the positioning of the artwork from the top of the sample label to the top of the carrier label.
The removable fragrance sampler of the present disclosure is designed to obviate and overcome many of the disadvantages and shortcomings experienced with prior sample labels. Moreover, the present disclosure is related to a removable fragrance sampler that can be easily removed, re-positioned, or adjusted on printed matter without destroying or impairing any printing or graphics on the printed matter.